Letter: The greatest danger to the United Kingdom is not Sinn Fein or the SNP, but an awakening English nationalism
A letter from Joseph Lee du Toit:
The first ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, from Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National Party and Sinn Féin recently met in Cardiff and declared that ‘Westminster’s time is coming to an end’.
This refers to secession from England, the remaining member country of the United Kingdom.
For Northern Ireland and Scotland, independence referendums are being demanded in the near future; for Wales, further devolution of powers first, and possibly a referendum later.
There is, however, more at stake. These parties support strongly progressive and left-oriented policies that enjoy little support in England.
They use national sentiment in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to advance those policies.
Yet there is no majority support for independence, precisely because many residents fear that full self-determination without England’s restraining influence could lead to chaos.
The parties themselves are therefore partly an obstacle to the independence they pursue.
The decisive factor, however, remains economic: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are heavily dependent on tax transfers from England.
As long as this remains the case, the greatest danger to the United Kingdom is an awakening English nationalism.
Joseph Lee du Toit, Pretoria, South Africa